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CEO Elon Musk revealed SpaceX smashed a world rocket record in a recent Raptor engine test, pushing Starship’s crucial component past performance targets that are several years old.
On August 17, the SpaceX CEO unexpectedly posted a photo of a Raptor test and a corresponding graph showing the pressure in the engine chamber, confirming that the company had managed to push the engine to record levels. Musk says an unspecified Raptor – possibly serial number 39 (SN39) – briefly reached a main combustion chamber pressure of 330 bar (~ 4,800 psi) during a controlled burn – and remained intact afterward. the stop.
Outside of subscale laboratory testing, the highest known main combustion chamber for the orbital-class full-scale rocket was produced by the Soviet Union in the 1980s with the RD-701 engine. Although the exceptionally unique engine was canceled before it could be used, it reportedly reached pressures of 290-300 bar in one mode of operation. Now, however, SpaceX and its Raptor engine appear to be the new world record holders – by far.
Raptor’s new crown comes about 18 months after Elon Musk revealed that the engine beat the Soviet RD-270 full-flow staged combustion (FFSC) with higher sustained chamber pressure (~ 257 bar vs. 255 bar ). A few days later, the same Raptor went even further, reaching the 257 bar operating pressure of the Russian RD-180 engine with a peak of 268 bar. Still, SpaceX needed another 6 to 12 months to refine Raptor into an engine capable of operating even near those pressures for more than about 10 seconds. In July and August 2019, the Raptor SN6 engine flew on Starhopper twice, culminating in a jump of about 60 seconds for 150 yards that ended with the engine destroying itself almost seconds before landing.
Almost exactly a year later, Raptor SN27 launched on Starship SN5 on the same 150m trajectory and appeared to perform flawlessly. Barely showing a stutter or flare, SN27 never came close to the flamethrower-like agony of death that Raptor SN6 suffered in August 2019. In short, SpaceX has continued to do what SpaceX does. does better, continually refining rough prototypes into increasingly polished finished products.
Originally revealed in 2016 as a full-flow methane / oxygen staged combustion engine with combustion chamber pressure of 300 bar (4350 psi), Raptor’s August 17 achievement means SpaceX has already passed the one of its performance objectives. Of course, combustion chamber pressure is significant but still far less important than engine longevity, burn time limits, and reusability in the context of Starship. SpaceX probably wouldn’t push the limits on chamber pressure if it wasn’t convinced of Raptor’s many other important attributes, but it’s still unclear if Raptor has ever burned for more than 90 seconds.
Either way, if Raptor can actually maintain chamber pressures of 330 bar without getting damaged, the milestone could mean SpaceX has already increased Raptor’s maximum thrust from ~ 200 metric tons to ~ 225 metric tons (440 000-500,000 lbf For Starship and Super Heavy, this 10% increase in thrust could easily translate into a 5-10% increase in orbit payload per launch.
To reach orbit, however, Raptor still has some way to go. In order for Super Heavy to complete a normal launch, SpaceX will need to dramatically increase Raptor’s production (~ 31 engines per booster) and ensure that Raptor can operate reliably for 3-5 minutes or more and re-ignite multiple times in flight. . For Starship, SpaceX needs – at a minimum – to mature Raptor until it can burn continuously for 5-10 minutes to reach orbit. The company will likely also need to complete development of a vacuum-optimized custom version of Raptor for efficient orbital flights.
Given how quiet SpaceX is on most of Raptor’s milestones, it’s possible the company has already made substantial progress in this direction. For example, Starship SN8 – already nearing completion – will likely be the first prototype to fly with Three Raptor engines and will need the ability to stop and start these in-flight engines to perform true launch and landing tests at 20 km (~ 12.5 mi). Even maintaining 330 bars for 10-100 seconds + without destroying the engine is probably several iterations of Raptor. Still, given SpaceX’s track record, all of these milestones are likely just a matter of time and persistence.
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